His guitars
Andrés Segovia used dozens of guitars during his artistic career, made by different luthiers of international prestige. Although many of them are in private collections or in museums such as the Metropolitan in New York, the Andrés Segovia Foundation exhibits some of the most iconic, such as the Jose Ramirez with whom he offered his last concert.
Benito Ferrer
The first guitar used in public by Segovia was built by Benito Ferrer Castillo in 1904, and it was used by Andrés Segovia for study and concerts for a period of nearly nine years (from 1904 to March 1913).
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He offered his first concert with it in 1909 at the Artistic and Literary Center of Granada.
1 guitar (1904 to 1913)
Manuel Ramirez
The guitar built by Manuel Ramírez de Galarreta y Planell in 1913 was the second that his hands touched, given by the luthier on Segovia's first visit to his workshop.
With it he offered his first concert at the Ateneo de Madrid and has been exhibited, since 1986, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
1 guitar (1913 to 1937)
Santos Hernandez
The guitar built by Santos Hernández in 1924 was a reserve guitar that was used on various occasions in his concerts, alternating it with Manuel Ramírez's from 1913.
This guitar was donated by Andrés Segovia in 1932 to the Madrid City Council Music Library, where it remains on display.
1 guitar (1924 to 1932)
Hermann Hauser I
The first of the Hausers built two guitars for Segovia. The first one, built from red spruce wood from a 17th-century baldness, was used by the Master until 1956, and it is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, together with Manuel Ramírez's guitar from 1913.
The second one, built in 1950, is currently at the Museum of the Andrés Segovia Foundation in Linares.
2 guitars (1937 to 1956)
Hauser Family
Segovia used 9 guitars made by Hermann Hauser II. Most of them are in private collections or unaccounted, except for the second (No. 612), kept at the Andrés Segovia Foundation in Linares, and the third (No. 729), exhibited at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando de Madrid.
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Hermann Hauser III manufactured one more guitar for Segovia in 1979, which he would premiere at his concert at the Herkulessaal in Munich in November of that same year.
10 guitars (1956 to 1987)
Ignacio Fleta & sons
In 1956, faced with the serious problems caused by the extreme climatic changes suffered during his tours of the United States, Ignacio Fleta Pescador showed Segovia several guitars from his workshop.
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The luthier will make 4 more guitars for him, followed by another two made by his sons Francisco and Gabriel Fleta Cañellas. The first of the latter, delivered in 1976 and registered under No. 700, remains at the Museum of the Andrés Segovia Foundation in Linares.
7 guitars (1956 to 1987)
Pierre Vidoudez
Guitar built in 1959, registered with the number 99. This guitar was premiered by Andrés Segovia in concert at the Theater de la Cour St. Pierre and remains in a private collection.
1 guitar (1959 to 1987)
Jose Ramirez III & IV
The luthier Jose Ramirez III delivered his first guitar to Segovia in 1960, which would be followed by 6 more, until he delivered the last one in 1985. The latter (blessed by Pope John Paul II) was the one used by Segovia in his last concert at the Miami Beach Theater of the Performing Art in 1987 and is located, along with the previous one, at the Museum of the Andrés Segovia Foundation in Linares.
Jose Ramirez IV would also build a guitar for Segovia, delivered in 1979.